Battery powered devices such as selective call receivers (e.g., pagers) generally include a housing into which a battery is inserted. Such devices typically include electrical contacts for coupling the battery to an electrical circuit (such as a receiver circuit). Conventional battery housings typically have an aperture through which the battery is inserted and a battery housing cover (i.e., battery door), for covering the aperture and for electrically contacting the battery. Typically, when installed, batteries are retained by forces exerted directly from the contacts via an interference (friction) fit between the battery and the contacts.
Additionally, conventional battery compartments have generally been designed to be oversized relative to the battery to enable ordinary users to manually extract the battery. Oversized battery compartments are undesirable since modern design philosophies in microelectronics encourage the reduction of physical size. Therefore, conventional battery compartments are not in line with modern design trends relative to electronic devices.
Historically, conventional battery contact methods have often been overly complicated and/or prone to failure upon impact of the battery in the electronic device, when the device is dropped. Many attempts have been made to provide a simplified yet highly reliable battery contact scheme, but none have enabled the battery compartment to be reduced in size while allowing the battery to be readily accessible and removable by the user.
Furthermore, conventional housings for electrical devices typically comprise at least two interlocking portions (i.e. main housing and battery door), which are assembled using various fasteners (e.g., screws) or fastening methods (e.g., sonic staking). Fasteners, such as screws, increase labor and material costs of the electronic devices, which increases the final cost of the product. Conversely, fastening methods such as sonic staking reduce the initial labor and material costs, but prevent the housing from being readily opened for repair once assembled. Because the housing is deformed when staked together, many products are considered non-repairable and discarded when the product fails. Ultimately, with either fastening technique, the consumer pays additional costs for the device either initially, in repairs, or in replacing the product.
Thus, a need exists for an electronic device having battery contacts that allow the battery compartment's size to be reduced and the battery to be readily accessible to the user. The need further exists for an electronic device having battery contacts that are reliable upon impact of the device.